A couple of months ago, I changed the way I approach what to cook next, and it’s meant spending more time flipping through my collection of cookbooks and getting to know some that I haven’t had the chance to use before. I’ve owned Classic German Baking for at least a year and shamefully never got around to baking from it, but I’ve been following its author, Luisa Weiss, for much, much longer, and have always admired both her writing voice and her taste in food on her blog The Wednesday Chef. So when I finally got around to cracking the book open a few weeks ago,  I was on the hunt for something that seemed quintessentially German, but was also stuck on the idea of a potential Christmas cookie. The nussecken seemed to fit the bill.

First, let me address the name of the cookie and begin a slow clap for the German language which, as it usually does, nails it. “Nussecken” in English means “nut corners,” which sounds adorably awkward but is also a spot-on description of a triangular nut cookie with the corners dipped in dark chocolate. Nut corners. I love it.

I myself have been calling these “adult cookies” which I realize just sounds weird and maybe a little creepy (there is nothing untoward hidden inside). But hear me out. The primary flavor is hazelnut, which is toasted for additional flavor. Hazelnuts are no shrinking violets; they’re bold and bitter, and I remember picking them out of a handful of mixed nuts as a child to put back in the container. The secondary flavor is bittersweet chocolate (60-70%), which is sweet but in that way that makes it okay for very thin celebrities to claim they eat one square of it every night for dessert because they are just so indulgent.

There’s a thin layer of rich shortbread crust that makes the foundation for these cookies. Then, what holds the toasted hazelnuts together is an extraordinary amount of butter- rich, European-style butter, the kind that costs 3x what you usually spend at the grocery store, but is absolutely necessary in this recipe if you want it to live to its full potential. And why wouldn’t you? They’re just sweet enough, extremely rich and a bit bitter. They’re beautiful. And they’re one of the most exciting things I’ve baked in a very long time. I just ate the last of the second batch out of the freezer and I am already looking forward to the next tray.

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German Chocolate-Hazelnut Cookie Bars (Nussecken)

Category: Desserts

Servings: Makes 13 wedges

Ingredients

    For the Cookie Base:
  • 1 1/4 cups, scooped and leveled, minus 1 tablespoon/150g all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup/50g granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons/65g unsalted high-fat, European-style butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup/100g apricot jam or redcurrant jelly
    For the Nut Topping:
  • 10 1/2 tablespoons/150g unsalted high-fat, European-style butter
  • 1 1/4 cups/150g toasted, skinned chopped hazelnuts
  • 3/4 cup/150g granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups/150g toasted, skinned hazelnuts, finely ground in a food processor
  • 10 1/2 oz./300g bittersweet chocolate (between 50% and 70% cacao), chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line by a 9 by 13-inch/23 by 33cm metal baking pan with parchment paper, letting the sides hang over the edge to function as a sling after baking.
  2. To make the cookie base: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and add with the egg. Using your hands, quickly knead the ingredients together until you have a smooth dough. It will be on the sticky side. Quickly press the dough evenly into a prepared pan or roll it out between two pieces of plastic wrap and then transfer to the prepared pan. (I found it much easier to roll out the dough than press it). Do not make a rim- the dough should be one even plane. Poke the dough all over with a fork. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and fill the pan with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the base is just starting to color. Take the pan out of the oven and remove the aluminum foil and pie weights; maintain the oven temperature. Spread the apricot jam evenly over the hot base. Set aside.
  3. To make the nut topping: Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat to melt. Add the chopped hazelnuts and cook until toasted, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar, water, vanilla extract and salt, and stir. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, remove from the heat and stir in the ground hazelnuts until well combined. Spread this mixture evenly over the jam.
  4. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and the edges are caramelizing. Take the pan out of the oven and let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Then cut the mass in the pan into thirds lengthwise, and then into quarters crosswise, and finally cut each piece in half diagonally, forming triangles. Leave in the pan to cool.
  5. When the bars have fully cooled, remove from the pan using the parchment paper as a sling, and cut through the slice marks again to separate the bars fully. Return the parchment paper to the baking sheet.
  6. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water or in a microwave in short bursts, stirring after every few bursts. Dip two sides of each triangle into the chocolate about 1/2 inch/12mm deep. Return the bars to the baking sheet; allow the chocolate to set, 2 to 3 hours.
  7. When the chocolate is fully set, transfer the cookies to an airtight container, where they will keep for up to 1 week.

Notes

https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2018/12/20/german-chocolate-hazelnut-bars-nussecken/